1. The similarity between the two lie in their belief to fight an unjust law through persuasion and to do so in a peaceful way. He also claims “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification and direct action,” and Socrates does participate in the several of these actions to further his point. They both agree that in cases of unjust law, they should fight it (despite that one was willing to go further than another) but still respect the laws in place. King knew that disobeying the law would only bring chaos and reflect badly on the idea of change they wanted and to get the desired results he needed to act in a way that would properly show what he desired.…
In the story of Crito, Socrates is in prison and awaiting his execution that he was found guilty by corrupting the youth and also supporting other gods that the city of Athens did not. Throughout his trial, Socrates argued each of the things he was charged for and made it very clear that it was not just for him to be found guilty for these actions. The jury ended up finding Socrates guilty through a very slim vote that was not necessarily fair by any means. As Socrates sat in his cell, one of his very faithful friends, Crito, decided to come talk to him. He gave Socrates the opportunity to escape prison and live the life of a wanted man instead of facing his execution. As the story of Crito goes on, he asks himself a number of questions deciding on what he was going to do and whether it would be just or unjust for him to escape prison. Socrates eventually decided that he was going to stay in prison and face his execution instead of escaping, for the act of escaping prison would be unjust and breaking the laws of the city. I agree with Socrates’ decision that he made and feel like he did the just thing by facing his execution.…
In Plato's Apology, Socrates a philosopher is standing trial for charges that are not easily proven. Socrates has two sets of charges brought against him the “old” charges that Socrates claims that have been talked about for a very long time “there are many of these accusers, and they have been accusing me for a long time now.”(Plato 18c) His second set of charges known as the “new’ charges represent more straight forward claims. New charges called onto Socrates is that he is guilty of corrupting the youth as well as not believing in the gods in which the city chooses to believe in. Despite accusation for many of these false crimes Socrates is allowed a chance to argue his position against his accusers, which is what Socrates does best. However…
In this dialogue, Socrates is attempting to defense himself at the trial and prove his innocence, while others are trying to put him to death for introducing strange gods and corrupting the youth. Socrates's first sentence sets the tone and direction for the whole dialogue. Socrates, in addressing the men of Athens, states that he almost forgets who he is because of…
There are numerous charges against Socrates in the reading of The Apology. The basic charges against him include impiety, corrupting the youth, and theorizing about unknown topics. He does not believe in the gods that the state does, and therefore seeks for natural explanations to processes that occur in the world around him. He did not recognize the gods and introduced other new divinities. Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth. Due to the constant asking of questions and inquiry, it lead him to try to discover new things about life. Since he looked for natural reason, he began to teach others about his understandings. His followers soon began to imitate his methods and expose other people as unwise which was a threat to the order…
Is Socrates actually guilty of either of the crimes with which he is charged: impiety and corrupting the youth? Are these crimes dangerous for a political community? Is Socrates, in his Apology, fully persuasive that he and his way of life pose no threat to the city? (To answer these questions, you will need to ask yourself what is the foundation for Athenian or, indeed, any political society.)…
He does this by saying that wicked people do harm to the people closest to them while good people do good to those closest to them. Meletus agrees with this which leads Socrates to the point that no person would willingly choose to live among the wicked as it would cause him harm. With this being the case Socrates argues that he cannot be validly charged with willingly corrupting the youth as it would only do he harm. And if he is corrupting the youth, he is not doing it willing. IF this is the case, there is no need for a trial and punishment. Socrates states that if he is unwillingly corrupting the youth, it is necessary to correct him rather than punish him. Socrates gives Meletus too options. Either he is not corrupting the youth (as that would cause him harm, or he is doing it unwillingly. Either way, neither option is a crime worth of death. With this argument, Socrates is able to invalidate the charge of corrupting the youth. It is clear by Socrates description of the wording of the charges that the charges are illogical and serve no basis for a…
In 399 BCE, Socrates was put on trial and convicted to death for “impiety and corrupting the youth of the city” (Apology, p. 202). He asked many questions of people, making them look unintelligent and the upper-class youth followed suit. Instead of accepting his fate, he killed himself, denying his opposition the pleasure of doing so themselves. Confucius was a philosopher in China many years after the death of Socrates in Greece. His philosophy was based on natural order, specifically children minding adults, and leading a peaceful existence.…
Why, in a society relishing freedom and democracy, would a seventy-year-old philosopher be executed for what he was teaching? What could Socrates have done to prompt a jury of 500 Athenians send him to his death just a few years before he would have died naturally? He was charged with not believing in the gods worshipped by the city, introducing new divinities and for corrupting the youth. Socrates was a freethinker who went around Athens probing his fellow Athenians with questions and dialectal interrogations about religion and politics. He held contemporary views, that when he expressed them, provoked his listeners to anger. In 423 B.C., Socrates produced a play called Clouds, which at the time proved to be no threat to Athenian values and democracy. Characters in the play were taught how strengthen weak arguments by learning rhetorical skills and trickery and innovative divinities were introduced. However in 399 B.C., Socrates was charged with impiety. This was not the only charge brought against this philosopher; he was also accused for corrupting adolescences, Alcibiades and Critias. Should he have been condemned to death over such charges? Although religion and the state were central to ancient Athenian law, Socrates was executed unjustly.…
Socrates was guilty as charged as he did not believe in the same gods as Athens while extorting the truth for his personal benefit, disregarding the pureness of Athens and its youth.…
Socrates was brought to trial, with the hopes to humiliate him by forcing him to beg for mercy.…
For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very plain, conversational manner. He explains that he has no experience with the law courts and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed: with honesty and directness. He explains that his behavior stems from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi which claimed that he was the wisest of all men. Recognizing his ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he knows that he knows nothing. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considered it his duty to question supposed "wise" men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities earned him much admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the people he embarrassed. He cites their contempt as the reason for his being put on trial.…
Meletus accuses the philosopher of corrupting the youth as oppose to bettering them. Socrates is also arraigned with being a sophist, making the bad look good, not believing in god - or at least not recognizing the gods worshiped by society and finally, being an outright ‘evil-doer’. During his speech, Socrates first addresses Aristophanes (A playwright of Athens), and his pursuit to make Socrates out to be a bit of a trash-talker who claims he can walk through air along with other absurdities. Socrates claims that although he is a teacher of philosophy, he does not charge. Even though frowned upon Socrates admires anyone that possess such great knowledge and is able to charge for their teachings. In a modest manner he states, “Had I the same, I should have been very proud and conceited; but the truth is that I have no knowledge of that kind.” This is important because it aids in the proving of Socrates innocence, being that if he was indeed such a pompous, conceited philosopher he would not be able to admit his lack of knowledge. Throughout the excerpt Socrates makes reference to many stories in effort of proving to the jury before him how he acquired such an atrocious reputation. Socrates mentions that he believes the only reason he was put on trial was because Meletus does not like him for possessing such unique…
Socrates, one of the greatest minds go Ancient Greece’s was no exception. As a sophist, Socrates was considered a teacher of the noble. Sophist of Greed taught young men ’arete’: excellence or virtue for a price. However, Socrates wasn’t a regular sophist, he never accepted any monetary reward for his ’teachings“ (b316,p813) and he never actually taught anything but rather trained minds to think. Socrates states at the trail that he doesn’t have any true knowledge and he believed that in order to have any true knowledge one must be able to produce a single, clear definition of a subject without any exclusions to the rule, something that he was never able believed that he couldn’t do.Rather than use he own opinions to teach his pupils what to think, Socrates used ”systematic questioning“ (b136p813) to help clear their own minds and reach their own conclusions just by thinking. A skill that they could carry forward, into their lives as Athenian citizens. With this in mind, it is nearly impossible for the Athenians government to find Socrates guilty of…
bce for the crime of impiety” (Nails 27) Why did Athens wait so long to put Socrates on trial? In order to explore my topic and try to answer my question, I began reading three scholarly sources, which gave me a better understanding on why he could of been put to trial. It still raises the same question as to what really happened and why was Socrates sent to trial at such a late age in life. Socrates throughout his life has been teaching in Athens unbothered until he was sent to trial at the age of seventy.…